Christ gives His body and blood for you.

 

Sermon for Maundy Thursday, April 2, 2026

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Matthew 26:26-29  ²⁶While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples.  He said, “Take, eat, this is my body.”  ²⁷Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it all of you, ²⁸for this is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  ²⁹I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. (EHV)

Christ gives His body and blood for you.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

            We have been preparing for this night for the past six weeks, but what have we been doing to prepare?  To be honest, perhaps not much.  Some may have given up some treat or activity for Lent.  Many of us have attended midweek services in which we heard about the last few days and hours of Jesus’ passion.  On the other hand, I pray that you have spent these six weeks of Lenten preparation considering your guilt and need for a Savior, and therefore, have spent these six weeks, as we should always, in repentance so that you are ready to receive the forgiveness of our Lord.

For about three years, Jesus had been preparing His disciples for this night, preaching the Good News of the Messiah entering our world, healing the sick, performing miracle after miracle that showed His divine power, calling sinners to repentance, and announcing in advance what He was prepared to do as Christ gives His body and blood for you.

As part of our ongoing review of our catechism, this evening we look at the list of questions Luther recommended before partaking of the body and blood of God’s Son.  I encourage you to open your hymnal now to that list on pages 38-39.  Luther gave us 20 questions to consider as we prepare for the Lord’s Supper.  Most likely, when you were in confirmation class, your pastor encouraged you to use this list every time you were coming to the altar of our Lord for this meal.  If you are like me, however, you’ve likely grown a bit lackadaisical about doing that review.  This evening, permit me to review with you just the first nine questions, all very short, and I pray these are your answers:

1.    Do you believe you are a sinner?  Yes, I believe it; I am a sinner.

2.    How do you know this?  From the Ten Commandments, which I have not kept.

3.    Are you sorry for your sins?  Yes, I am sorry that I have sinned against God.

4.    What have you deserved from God by your sins?  His wrath and displeasure, temporal death and eternal damnation. (Romans 6:21 & 23)

5.    Do you also hope to be saved?  Yes, such is my hope.

6.    In whom, then, do you trust?  In my dear Lord Jesus Christ.

7.    Who is Christ?  The Son of God, true God and man.

8.    How many Gods are there?  Only one; but there are three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

9.    What, then, has Christ done for you that you trust in Him?  He died for me and shed His blood for me on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.

The questions that follow on Luther’s list are not less important, and I encourage you to give them your attention going forward, but for tonight, this is the highlight I want to focus on, that Christ gives His body and blood for you.

As we reviewed these questions, what did we offer to God to induce Him to sacrifice His Son so that we might have forgiveness and life?  The true answer is that we did nothing, except the sin that Jesus died to pay for.  From the very beginning, God rightly commanded our obedience, and almost from the very beginning mankind has been sinning against our Creator and God.  You and I were no different.  King David recognized that from the moment of conception we are inclined to sin.  In fact, David understood that because our first parents rebelled against God, their sin-infected nature has been passed down to each and every one of us, with the result that as we are formed in our mothers’ wombs, we have no trust in God or what He has done for us.

In the confession of sin inserted in this list of questions, we said we are sorry for our sins, but being sorry doesn’t pay the price our guilt required.  The law demands perfection, and justice demands death for sin.  As sinners, we deserved God’s wrath and everlasting exile in the punishment of hell.  At the same time, what kind of God would subject His children to such a fate?  Well, the answer to that question is a God who is both perfectly holy and perfectly just.  His holiness demands that we must be righteous and without any sin to be in a relationship with Him.  God’s justice requires that the consequence of breaking the law must be carried out.  There can be no exceptions, or God would be neither holy nor just.

Sometimes, people ask, why does God allow so much death in our world?  In truth, it is because of sin that death comes to all people, and whether that is when they are young or old, it is not because God is indifferent.  Rather, God wants to save us from the curse of sin.  Now, you and I couldn’t purchase release from the death sentence we deserve.  We owed that debt to God for our guilt.  Yet, the only way we could pay the debt would be to spend eternity in hell’s prison. 

Still, our God desired a relationship with mankind.  This was God’s whole purpose in creating this world.  And, as the apostle declared, “God is love.” (1 John 4:16)  Therefore, because our Lord Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love, He put Himself in our place on that cross.  God sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice that allows Him to punish our guilt at the same time that He declares us justly innocent of all charges.

Now, since the time God rescued Israel out of Egypt, He had commanded the sacrifice of a lamb in remembrance of His plan of salvation.  The night of the last plague on Egypt, God commanded that the blood of the lamb be painted on the doorposts and lintels of Israel so that as He was wreaking vengeance on Egypt for rejecting Him, the Lord would pass over those houses, and the people inside were spared from death.  God commanded that Passover sacrifice be repeated annually until the final sacrifice it foreshadowed would be accomplished.  God wanted all people to know and remember that the sacrifice of His Lamb would finally set them free from slavery and death.

Therefore, it is in this His last Passover celebration that Jesus gives us a new covenant.  The old covenant painted a picture of what Jesus was doing for us, but now, the real event was at hand.  Thus, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples.  He said, ‘Take, eat, this is my body.’  Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”  Just as those sacrificial lambs fed the people of Israel repeatedly for all those many years, so now, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, Jesus gives us His own body and blood: His body to nourish our souls for eternity; His blood to paint the doorposts of our hearts marking us as His own chosen people.

In the corrupted reasoning of natural man, the argument is often made that Jesus couldn’t really give us His body and blood for all these years.  Many various reasons are imagined.  Yet, being true God as well as true Man, our Lord does exactly as He promised.  His very blood is in, with, and under the wine; His true flesh is in, with, and under the bread Jesus hands to us at His table.  How can this be?  That we must leave up to our Lord through whom God created the heavens and the earth.  We don’t need to know the how, only what Jesus does, and what Jesus does is promise that in this eating and drinking, we receive again the forgiveness of all our sins.  He promises that as we partake of this holy meal, we again receive peace with His Father in heaven.

So we now know the benefit that is ours through the amazing gift of Jesus’ body and blood given and shed for our sins.  Yet, for whom is it given?  Just those twelve disciples?  Just the Jews descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?  Not hardly, for Jesus boldly proclaimed, “This is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  Therefore, we can be confident that if we are sinners, Jesus offers His blood for us.  If we believe in Jesus as Savior and Redeemed, this body and blood is intended for you and me.  If we repent our sins, this is the remedy for our guilt.  If we are under the curse of sin, but God has brought us into His kingdom of grace through Baptism, and if we have been properly instructed in the Christian faith, this holy meal is medicine and food for eternal salvation.

There is one other question in Luther’s list that I want to mention.  There are times when people don’t think they need the Lord’s Supper.  Sometimes, they feel little or no guilt.  Others occasionally feel so guilty they assume they are unworthy of God’s grace (which, of course, is always true for all people).  Therefore, Luther gives an answer for anyone who doesn’t feel the need or desire to partake of this forgiveness and life.  Question 20 asks, “But what shall a person do if he is not aware of such trouble and feels no hunger and thirst for the Sacrament?” 

To such a person no better advice can be given than that, in the first place, he put his hand into his bosom, and feel whether he still have flesh and blood, and that he by all means believe what the Scriptures say of it in Galatians 5 and Romans 7.  Secondly, that he look around to see whether he is still in the world, and keep in mind that there will be no lack of sin and trouble, as the Scriptures say in John 15 and 16; 1 John 2 and 5.  Thirdly, he will certainly have the devil also about him, who with his lying and murdering day and night will let him have no peace within or without, as the Scriptures picture him in John 8 and 16; 1 Peter 5; Ephesians 6; 2 Timothy 2.

In other words, dear friends, if you are still living in the flesh and blood and believe the truths and promises of the Holy Scriptures, Jesus has the cure for all your sins and guilt, and He offers it to you freely without cost or any service required on your part.  The Son of God, your Savior, has loved you so much that He willingly carried your sins into suffering, shame, death, and hell, so that you can be set free from all guilt and condemnation, so that you might enjoy forgiveness of all sin and life everlasting in heaven.  Now, may all those who walk in fellowship with Jesus and this congregation come forward to receive this great gift of forgiveness and peace as Christ gives His body and blood to you.  Amen.

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

In equal attitude, confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

 

Sermon for Lent 6, Palm Sunday, April 29, 2026

Mercy and peace to all of you who are in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Philippians 2:5-11  ⁵Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.  ⁶Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, ⁷but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant.  When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, ⁸he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.  ⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (EHV)

In equal attitude, confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.  Who could have imagined that this Jesus, riding into Jerusalem to cheers of praise and vast crowds shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  “Hosanna in the highest!”, would just a few days later suffer this great indignity which we confess in the Apostles’ Creed?  Who could have imagined that these same cheering people would soon cry out “Crucify Him!”

Yet, if we are being truly honest with ourselves and before God, we would have to see ourselves in that crowd, because we all have been guilty of wanting God to do things for us that maybe don’t align with His plan.  We all have at times questioned whether God really knows what He is doing in this world.  Who among us could claim that we have never had a selfish thought or wished for something to be different than it actually is?  How many of us haven’t wanted life to be a little easier for ourselves, and maybe even harder for some who have offended us in some way?

Paul wrote, “Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  To understand this sentence, we really should refer back to Paul’s words immediately preceding it: “Let each of you look carefully not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4)  Just as Jesus told His disciples, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)  Thus, the command of the Holy Spirit, here, is that we live in the same unselfish attitude that drove our Savior, and if we do this faithfully, we will In equal attitude, confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

If we compare the scene on Palm Sunday to any political campaign in our times, how many candidates for office would enter a town to such cheers and celebration but be thinking only of those people who need his service?  I suspect that the answer could only be none.  Every person who has ever lived has been infected with the desire for self-promotion, self-enrichment, or at least, for self-preservation.

Indeed, the natural mind cannot comprehend a Man like Jesus.  The prophet, Isaiah, confessed, “From ancient times no one has heard.  No ear has understood.  No eye has seen any god except you, who goes into action for the one who waits for him.” (Isaiah 64:4)  There is only One like Jesus, being both true God as well as true Man.  There is only One Man who walked this earth only so that you and I might be forgiven of all sin and live rather than suffer eternal punishment in hell.  There is truly only one Man who lived His complete life doing perfectly holy things only so that we could be counted righteous before God.  I challenge anyone to name any other person like Jesus.  Yet, that is our instruction, also, so what must we do?

Rather than immediately answer my question, consider how Paul continued.  Speaking about Jesus, he wrote: Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant.  When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”  In reality, Jesus is God from all eternity, begotten of the Father and the source and conduit of all creation.  Jesus truly owns the universe and everything in it, even those people who mock and jeer Him. 

By right, Jesus could do as He wished with the world.  In fact, God sent the prophet, Jeremiah, to observe a potter making his clay pots and when the pot didn’t turn out the way he wished, the potter would mash the clay and start over making something new.  Our Lord could have done that with the world and everything in it after sin corrupted all things.  However, God chose instead to make us new through His Son.  Therefore, Jesus made Himself equal to us in every way except without sin.  At the same time, not content with becoming like us, “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)  Counted as sin to God in our place, Jesus was delivered to the punishment and death we all deserved.

Now, taking the attitude of Christ doesn’t mean that we all have to suffer and die for the sins of others.  Jesus’ sacrifice was a once and done, sufficient for all time and all people, sacrifice.  The writer to the Hebrews said, “By this will, we have been sanctified once and for all, through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ.” (Hebrews 10:10)  It was God’s will that his Son would bear the cost for the sins of mankind.  It was not disgust for His Son that moved God, but rather love for us who are unlovable that motivated the Father and Son to make this great exchange of sin for righteousness.  At no cost to any of us, God transferred our guilt to Jesus and Jesus’ righteousness to those who believe in Him.

There is a bit more to know here.  In consideration of what Jesus has done for us, “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  This is God’s glory—His mercy granted to us through the love and sacrifice of His Son.  And in the end, every knee will bow in humble submission before Christ.  Those who have loved and believed in Jesus will bow before Him in gratitude and praise for eternal salvation granted freely through the blood of Jesus. 

On the other hand, those who have not believed in Jesus will finally know the truth.  They will never again be able to reject Jesus as God and Lord, for when St. John received a vision directly from Jesus after His ascension to heaven, he reported “Look, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him.” (Revelation 1:7)  Jesus, Himself, quoted the prophet, Hosea, to warn, “Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” (Luke 23:30) 

Judgment Day for the unbeliever will be a horrible experience leading to an eternal separation from God in the place prepared for the devil and his angels.  There will never be an escape from that eternal prison, nor any slight relief from the everlasting torment of separation from God’s kindness, as well as finally knowing that Jesus died even for those who rejected Him, but refusal to believe in Him cost them everything good.

So where does that leave us?  Our text convinces us that we should In equal attitude, confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  That is our work as Christian believers, to live our lives in service to our neighbor by setting aside selfish desires in order to help others hear the Good News of all Jesus has done for us.  That means that we will bring up our children “in the training and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)  It means that our concern will not be just for material gains but for what we can do to help our neighbor both in earthly things but especially in the hearing of the Gospel. 

Like the Good Samaritan, this unselfish attitude displayed on our behalf by our Savior will motivate hearts to be willing to help even when danger or inconvenience might militate against a willing spirit.  In fact, in many ways, it is not our decision or the strength of our faith that will accomplish the good works, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Dear friends, throughout the various epistles, there is much instruction about how we should live in the Christian faith, and it can feel like we often fall short of what we should be doing.  When it comes down to the truth, we know and confess that nothing good has its source in us.  It is the Father’s love that motivates us the same way it motivated Jesus to give Himself for the sinners of the world. 

We know and confess that it is by grace that the Word of God has reached our ears, and the waters of Baptism have flowed over us and cleansed our souls of all guilt.  We confess and know that it is Jesus’ love that flows through those the Spirit has claimed as children of God.  We, likewise, know and confess that our Lord Jesus has lived for us the perfect righteousness that only He can give.  We know and confess that in Jesus we have peace and rest for our souls so that we don’t have to merit the righteousness of God, for it is God’s gift to those under the care of His Son.

At the same time, knowing what Jesus has done for us, what joy is ours that we may devote our lives to living for Him, as the prophet exclaimed, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of a herald, who proclaims peace and preaches good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God is king!’” (Isaiah 52:7)  When we examine this text from the letter to the Philippians, what it comes down to is love, the unselfish kind of love that puts the needs of others ahead of our own.  The apostle, John, wrote, “This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)  Therefore, to friend and foe alike, it is in the love of God for us that we In equal attitude, confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Amen.

May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers.  May he never leave us or abandon us.  May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways.  Amen.

Christ mediated a new covenant with His own precious blood.

 

Sermon for Judica, Lent 5, March 22, 2026

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.  

Hebrews 9:15-22  ¹⁵For this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant.  A death took place as payment for the trespasses committed under the first covenant, so that those who are called would receive the promised eternal inheritance.  ¹⁶For where a will exists, it is necessary to establish the death of the one who made the will.  ¹⁷For a will takes effect at the time of death, since it is never in force when the one who made the will is still living.  ¹⁸For this reason, the first covenant was not ratified without blood.  ¹⁹Indeed, after every command was spoken by Moses to all the people, in accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water and scarlet wool and a hyssop branch, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people.  ²⁰He said, “This is the blood of the covenant that God established for you.”  ²¹In the same way he sprinkled blood on the tent and all the objects for worship.  ²²And nearly everything is cleansed with blood according to the law.  And, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. (EHV)

Christ mediated a new covenant with His own precious blood.

Dear friends in Christ,

            In our modern culture, most of us would likely be a little too squeamish to seal a contract with the blood of a sacrifice.  Yet, in the times the writer refers to here, God chose the sacrifice of animals to be the seal of His promise of forgiveness and salvation.  God used that system for a two-fold purpose.  First, it showed the deadly consequence of our rift with God, and second, it pointed the people forward to the sacrifice God would make to reconcile Himself with the human race.

In the Mosaic covenant with which the Hebrews were experienced, the sacrificial death of an animal was required to receive forgiveness and peace with God.  That old covenant was still a covenant of grace, but it showed very graphically that sin resulted in death.  Naturally, that should have surprised no one, since essentially every person who ever lived eventually died which fulfills God’s warning to Adam and Eve that if they broke their covenant with God and ate of the forbidden fruit, they would die.  Yet, a new covenant was needed because the first was symbolic of the sacrifice God was making to cover our sin.

A new covenant was necessary because the old covenant didn’t really atone for sin; rather, it was pointing forward to the one death that would indeed reconcile us with God.  You see, because it was man’s sin that required the consequence of death, the sacrificed animals could only picture the final sacrifice.  To truly reconcile people who are under the curse of sin with the righteous God who loves mankind, a Man had to die.  Furthermore, because all of us ordinary people deserved death for our own sins, our deaths couldn’t reconcile us with our Creator.  However, Jesus, being both true God as well as true Man and perfectly holy and righteous, could bear the sins of the world in our place.  It is for this purpose that Christ mediated a new covenant with His own precious blood.

In the explanation of the Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed, we each confess that Christ “has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.”  This is precisely what the writer is telling his fellow Hebrews in this text.  Speaking about Jesus, he wrote, “He is the mediator of a new covenant.  A death took place as payment for the trespasses committed under the first covenant, so that those who are called would receive the promised eternal inheritance.”  The old covenant included the commands to obey God perfectly.  No ordinary human was able to meet that requirement.  Therefore, we all deserved death.

However, Jesus’ death was no ordinary death, just as Jesus was no ordinary human.  Still, I need to qualify that statement, because Jesus assumed the human flesh into the divine.  He is therefore completely human, exactly like us but without sin.  At the same time, He is completely God so His life has infinitely greater value than ours.  Because He had no sin, Jesus didn’t deserve to die.  However, in God’s eternal wisdom and economy, the sins of the world are counted to Jesus so that when He went to that cross of suffering and shame, He was doing so without having committed any infractions, but out of love for us, He was taking on Himself the judgment we deserved for all our sins.

This is why Jesus wasn’t just spouting a platitude when He said, “No one has greater love than this: that someone lays down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)  Justice couldn’t require Jesus to die.  As God’s Son who was and is perfectly obedient to His Father’s will, Jesus dwelled in heaven in absolute righteousness and peace.  Still, His love for you and me brought Jesus to earth to be the Mediator, the One and Only God-Man who could restore harmony between God and mankind.  This was the will and covenant God had written throughout the Old Testament.  So much of that history showed how great a need we have for this new covenant.

However, as the writer here says, a will and testament only becomes valid when the testator, the person writing the will, dies.  This example from daily life fits well with God’s will to save sinners.  The demands of the law require death for sin.  God would not and could not accept anything less than perfect righteousness in His presence.  Therefore, the only way we might enter heaven is if God provides the way.

The writer also explains how throughout Israel’s history, God commanded that blood be used to sanctify, that is to cleanse from impurity, all things associated with His honor and worship.  The apostle wrote, “Indeed, after every command was spoken by Moses to all the people, in accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water and scarlet wool and a hyssop branch, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people.”  Time and again for centuries these rituals were repeated in their worship practices.  Why?  Because God wanted the people to see that only the blood of His Son could cover their sins for good.

When the original covenant was given, Moses told the people, “This is the blood of the covenant that God established for you.”  The writer further reminded his listeners that, “In the same way he sprinkled blood on the tent and all the objects for worship.  And nearly everything is cleansed with blood according to the law.”  Therefore, we can rightly conclude along with the writer of this letter, “And, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”  Without Christ on the cross, no one can be forgiven.

All of this pointed to God’s plan which would be completed by His Son, Jesus.  Now, in our times, the world may scoff at all this blood and death and mediation talk.  Many around us wouldn’t give it a second thought.  Yet, it is unmistakenly true that each and every person living, now or yet in the future, will meet the Lord face to face at some point.  There is a Judgment Day coming for everyone, whether that be when the body dies, or if it should be when Jesus returns in glory to judge the world.  Neither of these things is negotiable.  You cannot buy your way into heaven or out of hell, either by works, or wishes, or wealth.  There is only one way to enjoy peace with God and that is through faith in Jesus, just as He declared to His disciples, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6)

That is why this letter is such good news, not just to the Jews of the first century A.D.  It is good news for us as well.  Christ mediated a new covenant with His own precious blood.  Many of the Jews to whom this letter was written were beginning to go back to the old ways.  Perhaps it was at the urging of friends or family who hadn’t yet believed in Jesus.  Likely, persecution from staunch Pharisees or the old guard of temple priests, or even from the Roman government was tempting those early converts to Christianity to go back to the old ways.  The world is always against those who follow Jesus, because the world is led by the deceiver who has hated us since the beginning.

You and I are not immune from these temptations.  In fact, Jesus promised they would come.  He foretold that in the end times, there would be many false prophets and teachers who mislead people into trusting their own ideas or simply letting the natural desires of their sinful flesh rule their lives and actions.  History is full of the evil of man misleading or abusing other people. 

Today, many people think times are getting worse, but there were also many other times in the last nineteen hundred years when opposition to Christ seemed to rule.  As Jesus was led to the cross and the women were weeping and wailing, Jesus quoted the prophet, Hosea, as He warned, “Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’  For if they do these things to the green wood, what will happen to the dry?” (Luke 23:30-31)

Still, if despair because of all the evil in the world should ever overtake you, remember that these troubles will not last.  Indeed, Jesus declared, “If those days were not shortened, nobody would be saved.  But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:22)  The elect are all those people who have been brought into trust in Jesus as Savior, Redeemer, and Lord through the work of the Holy Spirit in the proclamation of the Gospel and the Sacrament of Baptism. Thus, the elect are those of us who have heard the Good News of all Jesus did to take away our sins and pay for our guilt with His own shed blood and by God’s grace have believed in Him.

No matter our physical age, our times in this troubled world will soon end.  That may seem like bad news when first heard, but our Lord’s plan is always to take His people out of this troubled world into the glory and peace of heaven.  There, we will never again have any torment, sorrow, sin, or death.  There, the devil has no influence on anyone or anything.  There, you and I will be blessed to enjoy everlasting peace with God, because Christ paid our debt of sin with His blood, and because we have been chosen by God to hear and believe in Jesus, His righteousness now covers us with holiness. 

Dear friends, “See the kind of love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)  Because we have been claimed by faith to be sons of God, Christ mediated a new covenant between us and God with His own precious blood.  Amen.

The Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Amen.

Receive, from the Father’s Son, the Bread of life.

 

Sermon for Laetare, Lent 4, March 15, 2026

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

John 6:41-47  ⁴¹So the Jews started grumbling about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”  ⁴²They asked, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  So how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”  ⁴³Jesus answered them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves.  ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.  And I will raise him up on the Last Day.  ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’  Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.  ⁴⁶I am not saying that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God.  He is the one who has seen the Father.  ⁴⁷Amen, Amen, I tell you: The one who believes in me has eternal life.” (EHV)

Receive, from the Father’s Son, the Bread of life.

Dear beloved in Christ Jesus, our Lord,

            It seems incredible to me, but for some reason, the world has always had a hard time understanding who Jesus is.  Even as a twelve-year-old boy at the temple, the teachers were dumbfounded that Jesus could have such understanding, while He always appeared to be an ordinary boy and later an ordinary Man.  Still, having been taught by the words of Scripture for the last two thousand plus years, how can anyone today not recognize Jesus?  Still, many do not.

This morning, we will take a look at a portion of the Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed.  The Christian Church has confessed Jesus’ nature ever since He ascended to heaven.  Of course, God the Father has been testifying to Jesus’ nature from the very beginning through the work of the Holy Spirit in recording the written Word of God.

As we confessed a few moments ago, we believe “in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.”  That seems very straight forward, but perhaps Luther’s explanation will help those who may be confused; he wrote, “I believe that Jesus Christ is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary; and that He is my Lord.” 

Here, we come to the crux of the matter.  These blunt statements seem like an impossible contradiction to the intellect of the person broken by sin, and since we were all broken by sin through our inherited nature, it is impossible to understand these truths except by faith.  Therefore, I bring you another seemingly impossible message: Receive, from the Father’s Son, the Bread of life.

To the natural mind, if Jesus is God then He cannot be human and certainly not bread.  Furthermore, if Jesus is a man, then how could He be true God?  Likewise, how could a baby be born of a virgin?  All this is completely outside of our human experience.  Therefore, the Spirit of God conceiving a Son in a virgin seems like mythology, so natural man rejects it, unless of course, he imagines something equally incredible himself.

In our text, the crowds react with disbelief because Jesus had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”  The Jewish people reacted in much the same way that modern man does, arguing through human logic that Jesus’ statement is impossible.  They knew Jesus’ earthly parents, Mary and Joseph.  They knew without any doubt how babies come into existence.  How could Jesus say something so preposterous?  Later, when Jesus had the audacity to teach that to be saved they must consume His body and blood, many if not most of those people turned against Him saying, “This is a hard teaching!  Who can listen to it?” (John 6:60)  And, they walked away.

We can resolve the difficulty in understanding Jesus’ words when we realize that He is not speaking about the Lord’s Supper He would institute the night He was betrayed.  Jesus is speaking, here, about Himself as the Word of God.  To help us understand, St. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

From the very beginning of the Book, the Bible tells us that the world and everything in it came into existence as God spoke.  His word has the power to create and to destroy.  St. John tells us about the saving power of God’s spoken Word when he writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.” (John 1:1-4)  Thus, Jesus is the food that gives life to the soul.

This world exists because God’s spoken Word has the power to create and sustain it.  You and I exist because God spoke into existence the elements that make up our bodies and He then formed us into special beings into which He breathed the breath of life.  It isn’t so hard to understand once we are willing to believe that our God truly is God.  The trouble for most people is that it doesn’t line up with what the sinful mind accepts.  Everything about God, His being, His power, His outside of this world nature, His mercy, forgiveness, and kindness is outside of the realm of human comprehension, so our salvation is understood only through the power of God working faith in us.

This is why when the people were complaining about His teachings Jesus answered them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves.  No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.  And I will raise him up on the Last Day.”  The Jews claimed to have the faith that saved Abraham, but they were being misled by teachers who insisted salvation must be earned.  Many of those teachers didn’t even believe in angels or life after death.  As you can imagine, the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees were not pleased when Jesus told the crowds, “Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.  Let them go.  They are blind guides of the blind.  And if the blind are guiding the blind, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:13-14)  The teachers of Israel had become a people led by their faulty intellect.  Yet, forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation cannot be earned, invented, nor come by our decision, because “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” (Psalm 3:8)

Consequently, every doubt or fear we might have about God or our salvation is, of course, sin.  Furthermore, almost all of us are troubled by these things at times.  The Christian faith doesn’t always make sense in the sinner’s mind, and there is opposition all around us, both from people in the world and the forces of evil that seem to rule the world.  Our own flesh cries against us, because we don’t want someone else having power or control over us.  What the sinner, by nature, fails to understand is that we are either under the devil’s control, or God has wrested us away from that deceiver by the power of His Word.  That is the only way anyone is saved.  Therefore, when we are brought to faith in Jesus, He has become our Lord to whom we owe our lives, for He rescued us from Satan’s chains.

Now, therefore, hear Jesus as He tells the crowds and the world, “It is written in the Prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’  Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.”  For thousands of years, God has been telling the world about His love, and the way He would show that love through sending His Son to be the sacrifice that would reconcile the world with God.  For fifteen hundred years God sent prophets to the people to tell them about the coming salvation. 

Actually, God was telling that Good News right from the beginning.  He spoke the story of salvation to Adam and Eve.  God showed the world His saving might as He rescued Noah from the judgment flood.  Again, God demonstrated to the world that He would save His people as He rescued Abraham’s descendants from their slavery in Egypt.  Time and again through Word and action, the Father told the world about Jesus.  Still, it all seemed so mysterious until Jesus made everything clear.

Therefore, it is now given to us to enjoy forgiveness and everlasting life, because the Holy Spirit has caused us to Receive, from the Father’s Son, the Bread of life.  Jesus told the crowd that day, “I am not saying that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God.  He is the one who has seen the Father.  Amen, Amen, I tell you: The one who believes in me has eternal life.”  This is simple enough for anyone to understand; whoever believes in Jesus Christ, that is whoever believes that Jesus is the Son of God who came into the world to redeem us from the curse of sin and the devil’s control will receive forgiveness of all sin, reconciliation with the Father, and life everlasting in heaven.

Jesus told the Samaritan women at the well, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)  God is Spirit, so we can’t find Him in the created world.  We can’t discover His secrets by human ingenuity or exploration.  The only way for us to be reconciled with God and be saved from our sins and the condemnation we deserved is if God reveals Himself to us, and He does that in the power of the Holy Spirit through His Word, through His Son, Jesus, for “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and all things hold together in him.” (Colossians 1:15-17)

For us today, Jesus remains that saving food that enlivens us to live forever.  He feeds our souls so that by His holy Word we believe in Him as our Savior from sin, Satan, and death.  We consume the Bread of Jesus through the hearing of the Word of God and its Good News for us in Word and Sacrament.  Having heard and believed the message Jesus brings, we are no longer children of darkness, for in Him we have the Light and Bread and the sure Hope of life everlasting.  Today and always, dear friends, Receive, from the Father’s Son, the Bread of life.  Amen.

Amen.  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever.  Amen.

What God wills will be done.

 

Sermon for 4^th midweek Lent, March 11, 2026

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Luke 23:20-25  ²⁰Pilate addressed them again, because he wanted to release Jesus.  ²¹But they kept shouting, “Crucify!  Crucify him!”  ²²He said to them the third time, “Why?  What evil has he done?  I have found no grounds for sentencing him to death.  So I will whip him and release him.”  ²³But they kept pressuring him with loud voices, demanding that he be crucified.  And their voices were overwhelming.  ²⁴So Pilate decided that what they demanded would be done.  ²⁵He released the one they had asked for, who had been thrown in prison for rebellion and murder, but he handed Jesus over to their will. (EHV)

What God wills will be done.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            You’ve prayed the prayer hundreds if not thousands of times, so have you ever stopped to consider what we are asking when we pray, “Thy will be done.”?  When Jesus taught the disciples to pray this prayer, do you suppose they recognized what it meant to say to God, “Thy will be done.”?

I suspect that we often are thinking that this is a concession to God expecting that He will give us what we ask for unless He deems it not what He wants for us.  I don’t believe that is what Jesus meant when He taught us to pray the Lord’s Prayer.

As we continue our walk through the Catechism, we come to the Third Petition of the Lord’s Prayer.  That portion of the Prayer states: Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

What does this mean?  Luther answers, “The good and gracious will of God is certainly done without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done also among us.”  He then continues his explanation by asking, How is God’s will done?  And again, he answers; “God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will, which would not let us hallow His name nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world and our own flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith until our end.  This is His good and gracious will.”

Now, we come to the hard part; what is the core of God’s will, and how does that apply to you and me?  You see, almost the whole Lord’s Prayer is aimed at asking God to bring salvation to us.  Only one petition out of seven pleads for our earthly needs.  Therefore, we must conclude that it is God’s will to save people from their sin.  God created mankind so that He might walk among us in peace.  However, sin entering our world certainly has interfered with that.  Therefore, to restore peace between God and humankind, God moved Himself to destroy the rift that Satan caused.

That brings me back to what the disciples might have thought when Jesus taught them His Prayer.  Did they grasp where this petition would lead Jesus?  Could they have possibly understood that it would lead to His arrest, to a mock trial, to the lies of false witnesses, the whipping, beatings, mockery, crucifixion, and finally to Jesus’ death on the cross and burial in a stranger’s tomb? 

The actions of those disciples the night Jesus was betrayed, and in the days immediately following, suggests that they truly couldn’t understand or realize what it meant when they prayed, “Thy will be done.”  Now, there was much in the writings of the psalms and prophets that should have made clear to the disciples what would happen to the promised Messiah.  Furthermore, Jesus told them on several occasions that He was destined to suffer and die for the sins of the world, but that He would rise from the dead.  Still, they couldn’t comprehend what that all meant.

So, are we ready to understand?  When we pray, “Thy will be done,” we are not asking for God to will all our earthly desires into existence.  Rather, we are truly praying (even if we don’t realize it) that God would be merciful to us and grant us the peace that only He can give.  Already early in His ministry, Jesus told Nicodemus, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:14-16)  Likewise, Jesus wasn’t shy in teaching this to His disciples and to the crowds.

When “the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because he was not merely breaking the Sabbath, but was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.  Jesus answered them directly, ‘Amen, Amen, I tell you: The Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing.  Indeed, the Son does exactly what the Father does.’” (John 5:18-19)  How does this apply to God’s good and perfect will?  St. Paul later explained, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

As Jesus walked through Galilee and Judea, He was proclaiming Good News to the people.  He was telling them of God’s will to save sinners through the life and death of His beloved Son.  At first, many believed and wanted to follow Jesus, but the more He explained and the deeper His teaching went, the more people turned away, and at the end, probably the majority of the Jews just wanted Jesus gone, and when whipped into a frenzy by Jesus’ enemies as He stood before Pilate, they cried out, “Crucify!  Crucify Him!”

Even though Jesus gave His life for ours, this is exactly what God had expected that nation of people to do.  God didn’t choose Israel as His people because they were perfect or even believers.  He chose them because He knew that though many would believe and be saved, the crowds would eventually turn against His Son.  Still, God’s desire to save sinners continued on, because “God our Savior, … wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:3-6)

On top of all this, it would be no help to us if God demanded a payment on our part or if He only intended salvation to come to Abraham’s blood descendants.  So that we would know the truth that sets us free from sin and death, Paul wrote, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.  As it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’  He redeemed us in order that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we would receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13-14)

We now know God’s will.  Our God loved us so much that He would stop at nothing to reconcile sinners with Himself.  He gave His Son, Jesus, into suffering and death, so that we might live and never die.  He had Jesus suffer the torments of hell on the cross so that the full penalty for the sins of the world has been paid.  Furthermore, so that generations of people would learn of Jesus and all He has done to reconcile us with God, God sent out disciples, apostles, missionaries, pastors, and teachers to tell of Jesus’ love and faithfulness. 

God has also instructed parents to teach their children of His great love and mercy.  Through Moses, He instructed, “The Lord is our God.  The Lord is one!  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  These words that I am commanding you today are to be on your heart.  Teach them diligently to your children, and speak about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

There are many times we may wonder why God allows evil to continue in the world, or why He doesn’t end all suffering right now.  God doesn’t answer every question we might have, but we do know why Jesus had to suffer.  St. Peter once argued against Jesus having to suffer and die and Jesus reprimanded that apostle for his opposition to what was necessary. (Matthew 16:22-23)  Later, after seeing Jesus suffer and die but rise again, and after the Holy Spirit arrived to further instruct the apostles, Peter wrote, “Indeed, it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil, because Christ also suffered once for sins in our place, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” (1 Peter 3:17-18) 

So, we have our answer concerning God’s will.  He wants to save us from the punishment and damnation we deserved, so He sent His Son Jesus to win our freedom from sin, death, and the devil.  And God’s will is that we believe in His Son that we might be saved through faith in Him.  Before He created the world, God chose you to hear His Good News and be saved. (Ephesians 1:4-5)  This is what Lent and Christianity as a whole is all about.  Thank the Lord, What God wills will be done.  Amen.

Now to the King eternal, to the immortal, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Trust God who saves us from the roaring lion.

 

Sermon for Oculi, Lent 3, March 8, 2026

The God of love and peace will be with you.  Amen.

Daniel 6:10-24  ¹⁰Now, when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went to his house.  It had windows on its upper story that opened toward Jerusalem.  Three times each day he would get on his knees and pray and offer praise before his God.  He continued to do that, just as he had been doing before this.  ¹¹Then these men came as a group and found Daniel praying and seeking favor from his God.  ¹²They then went and asked the king about the decree.  “Your Majesty, did you not sign a decree that anyone who prays to any god or person for thirty days except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the den of lions?”  The king answered, “Indeed I did.  The order is established as a law of the Medes and the Persians that cannot be revoked.”  ¹³Then they responded to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, does not pay attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree that you signed.  Instead, three times each day he is praying his prayers.”  ¹⁴When the king heard this report, he was very upset about it, but he was determined to save Daniel.  So until sunset he worked hard to rescue him.  ¹⁵Then these men came as a group to the king and kept saying to the king, “You know, Your Majesty, that it is the law of the Medes and the Persians that every decree or statute that the king establishes cannot be changed.”  ¹⁶Then the king gave the order, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the lions’ den.  The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you.”  ¹⁷A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the pit.  The king sealed it with his signet ring and the signet rings of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel’s situation.  ¹⁸Then the king went to his palace.  He spent the night without food, and no entertainment was brought before him.  But he could not sleep.  ¹⁹At dawn the king arose as soon as it was light and hurried to the lions’ den.  ²⁰As he came near the pit, he cried out in a fearful voice.  The king said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God, whom you serve continually, able to rescue you from the lions?”  ²¹Then Daniel spoke with the king.  “Your Majesty, may you live forever!  ²²My God sent his angel and shut the mouth of the lions.  They have not hurt me because he found me innocent in his presence.  Also before you, Your Majesty, I have committed no crime.”  ²³Then the king was very glad and said that Daniel should be brought up from the pit.  So Daniel was brought up from the pit, and he was unharmed because he trusted in his God.  ²⁴The king gave the order, and those men who maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den—they, their children, and their wives.  They had not reached the bottom of the pit when the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. (EHV)

Trust God who saves us from the roaring lion.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            Sometimes rulers pass laws with good intentions but not foreseeing unintended consequences, they end up with bad results.  Sometimes, rulers simply issue foolish laws out of arrogance, selfish power grabs, or mistaken assumptions.  And then, there are times when a naïve ruler is misled by those with wicked intentions to make a law that is both foolish and harmful.  It appears that all three of these are the case here.

Last Sunday, we continued our journey through the Catechism by beginning to explore the First Article of the Apostle’s Creed which deals with the Father and His creation of the world.  Part of Luther’s explanation reminds us that God protects and cares for us throughout our life here on earth.  That is especially evident in this morning’s text where we learn to Trust God who saves us from the roaring lion.

The account of Daniel and the lions’ den is probably one of the most well-known Bible stories, but whether it is always properly understood is another question.  The fact that Daniel was saved does not mean that we should put God to the test and expect to be protected from harm in all ways.  Furthermore, it does not indicate that God allows bad things to happen to people because they are somehow less righteous than Daniel.  Jesus enlightened us when He told the people, “Those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse sinners than all the people living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no.  But unless you repent, you will all perish too.” (Luke 13:4-5)  Still, the Lord does promise “that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  Therefore, we can rightly conclude that God had good purposes in allowing this event to take place.

Perhaps the first thing we should learn is not to put our full confidence in earthly authorities that are often subject to wrong ideas and evil intentions.  It also doesn’t mean we should disobey those put in authority over us.  St. Paul clearly relayed God’s command to obey those above us, yet we also must follow the apostles’ example when they declared, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)  Therefore, we will obey the governing authorities in ordinary things, but when they demand obedience to laws that are clearly against God’s commands, then we will obey God and suffer whatever consequences may come our way.

On the other hand, we can clearly see our God working behind the scenes here.  First, Daniel somewhat foreshadows our Lord Jesus.  Daniel was faithful to God and the most dedicated, wise, and skillful of all the advisors to the king, which, unfortunately, made him subject to the jealousies of other advisors.  They could find no fault of which to accuse Daniel, so they convinced the king to use his authority to make a law they schemed to use to trap Daniel. 

Now, Daniel was not holy, but he was righteous by faith in the Lord.  Jesus, on the other hand, was and is perfectly holy and faithful to His Father in heaven.  No one could accuse Jesus of any guilt, because He had no sin at all.  Still, out of jealousy and hatred, Jesus’ enemies falsely accused Him of many crimes.  However, in the end, Jesus’ death sentence was carried out because He told the truth, that He is the Son of God who was sent into the world to save sinners.

Thus, it is in Jesus’ death sentence that we are taught to Trust God who saves us from the roaring lion.  Because all mankind is infected with sin, we are all subject to the curse of sin which is death.  We are all in danger continually because of the deceiver who brought sin into the world in the first place.  Therefore, the Holy Spirit through St. Peter warns us, “Have sound judgment.  Be alert.  Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

In our sermon text, it was the king’s foolish and idolatrous decision that put Daniel in danger of death.  Once the sentence was carried out, the king regretted his decision.  Does it bother you that he couldn’t sleep that night?  Likewise, I might ask, do you ever have trouble sleeping because of something you have done? 

At this point, we could recognize that it was our sin, as well as the sin of the whole world, that caused Jesus to be thrown into battle against the roaring lion.  Isaiah confessed, “Surely he was taking up our weaknesses, and he was carrying our sufferings.  We thought it was because of God that he was stricken, smitten, and afflicted, but it was because of our rebellion that he was pierced.  He was crushed for the guilt our sins deserved.  The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)

When the king ran to the lion’s den that next morning, he really didn’t expect to find Daniel still alive.  Sure, he desperately hoped that the God Daniel worshipped could have done something, but the king wasn’t yet a believer in the true God.  In the same way, the women who came to Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning, and His disciples as well, didn’t really expect to find Jesus alive, even though He had told them several times that He would rise on the third day.

Of course, I am not saying that those women and disciples didn’t believe in Jesus, but they didn’t yet fully understand who Jesus is.  Jesus is indeed the dragonslayer and lion tamer God sent to rescue us from the jaws of certain condemnation at the gates of hell. 

Now, Daniel didn’t die that night because God sent His angel to keep the mouths of those hungry lions shut.  As the Lord promised in Psalm 91, “If you make the Most High your shelter, evil will not overtake you.  Disaster will not come near your tent.  Because he will give a command to his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.” (Psalm 91:9-11)  On the other hand, the Savior Daniel foreshadowed, our Lord Jesus, had to die because of the guilt of those who falsely accused Him, and because of the sins we commit in foolishness, self-promotion, jealousy, and hatred.  At the same time, like Daniel, Jesus didn’t stay in the lion’s pit, for God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day.

After the king found Daniel alive that next morning, and brought him safely out of the pit, he gave a new order, and all “those men who maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den—they, their children, and their wives.  They had not reached the bottom of the pit when the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.”  This is the same warning God has for anyone who rejects Jesus.  About those who serve primarily themselves in this life, Jesus declared, “Then he [The King] will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)  That eternal pit is what is in store for the devil and all who follow his ways.

Therefore, while many people might question why God would allow that king to be so foolish, or why He would allow those wicked men seemingly to have their way in the world, our Lord wants us to know that there is nothing that escapes His attention, and there is no sin that will go unpunished.  At the same time, God has already punished His own beloved Son for the sins of the world.  Therefore, it is only those who reject the Son who have no part with the Father.  Their eternal destination will remain the depths of hell as long as they continue in their wickedness and unbelief. 

Still, for those who continually turn toward the Son of God in faith there is everlasting rescue from the roaring lion who seeks to destroy us.  The victory has already been won, for Jesus lived holiness for us and died to pay for all our guilt.  Consequently, His resurrection on Easter morning proves that everything the Bible promises is true.  “Because I live, [Jesus says] you also will live.  In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  The one who has my commands and holds on to them is the one who loves me.  And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father.” (John 14:19-21)  Just as Jesus replied to the woman in our Gospel lesson who shouted out to Him from the crowds, “Even more blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” (John 14:18)  For all of us the message remains, Trust God who saves us from the roaring lion.  Amen.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.  Blessed be His glorious name forever.  May the whole earth be filled with His glory.  Amen.